


Honeymaid

by maniacCheshire



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Bees, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-18
Packaged: 2017-12-10 21:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maniacCheshire/pseuds/maniacCheshire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux is a bee who falls in love with Aradia, a maid. The idea and credit for this AU goes all to Canary6 on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU in which troll insects have anthropomorphic proportions and this is normal (i.e. Sollux just looks like a very small troll with wings and a stinger and the such.)

“Are you sure this isn’t too much for you?” Eridan asked, his tone half as sympathetic as his words. 

“It’s fine, really.” Aradia said with a bright smile. 

Sollux watched from behind a rose bush as Eridan scowled in contempt. Sollux had been here long enough to know that Eridan got his kicks from making peoples’ lives miserable, but the cheerful little maid had only worked for him two weeks, so she was rather new. Still, he had yet to break her spirit. She jumped into every little task she was given and made it a game, always smiling and humming when she tended to his garden. Sometimes belting out into song, and she had a lovely voice. Sollux would sit on a violet petal for hours to listen to her. She was like a flower that never stopped blooming. She made him smile. 

“Just make sure to get rid of those pests too.” He said as he passed the swatter, neglecting to bother tossing it to her for her convenience. 

That wiped the smile off of Sollux’s face. He wasn’t worried, really. He knew that no matter how loyal and dutiful Aradia was, she wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a bee. But the thought of his secret lover one day changing her mind and killing him unsettled him. 

And he did love her. He wasn’t afraid to admit it, to himself at least. To his pillow at night, to the songs he’d hum along with her, to all the nooks and crannies in the garden that he hid the thoughts of his affection for her hoping that one day she’d return them. Because before he knew her he was always so down, and bored. He was generally unpleasant. But her cheeriness is infectious, and it seeps into him like sweet honey, filling him with warmth. She brings out a brighter side of him. 

How he longs to tell her. He doesn’t think he’d be shy about it; he’s fantasized about sweeping her up like a prince would and carrying his maid off like in all the fairy tales enough times for him to be confident. But he’s still only a tenth of her size. His voice, to her, would travel in small squeaks and buzz, and he was nothing but an insect. 

In all of his daydreaming, he hadn’t noticed Aradia coming nearer. She began grinding away the stem of his rose with dull pliers and sent him toppling off the petal he had settled down on. What was she doing? Was she cutting down the rose bush? These were his favorite flowers! 

He began to frantically buzz all around her head, squeaking his disapproval. This was his rose bush! As much as he admired her, these flowers had been blooming for him long before he knew her and he would not let her take them from him. 

Aradia flinched and ducked as the bee flew around her. She didn’t instinctually freeze at the sound of an insect’s wings like most, nor did she swat. She looked up at it, following it with her eyes for a moment. She waited to see if it’d leave had she stayed still, but it didn’t, and that’s when something about this bee caught her eye. She took a sharp intake of breath in delight, and pulled a jar from her white apron pocket, quickly capturing the bee with an acute deftness that must have taken years of bug-catching to acquire. It was another game to her, and she smiled at it with red lips from outside the jar. She had seen something she liked. 

Sollux banged on the glass for only a minute before giving up his protest. Getting worked up was too much effort, and though there was still the nagging feeling inside of him that he’ll be losing his flowers, he couldn’t do much about it. He looked at her, smiling because she knew little of how he felt about this. Nevertheless she had a bright, cheery smile that made him look on the bright side. _The roses will grow back next spring, as long as she doesn’t uproot them._ He hoped that wasn’t what she was doing. 

“I’ll let you out of here when I’m done, ok?” Her chipper words came through the glass warbled and muffled. The corners of her eyes scrunched as her smile widened. Everything must have been so damn joyous to her. 

She carried his container to the shed tucked away in the corner of the garden. It was gray and pale and shabby in comparison to the rest of the garden. He was placed on a splintering shelf and then shut in the dark, with only his flashing red and blue eyes to give him light to see. 

He searched for a way out, trying to unscrew the cap, poke a hole in it, or even find a way to untwist it. Nothing worked, but he kept trying. He was as skinny as a twig, and could squeeze through a hole as big as his stinger, but he didn’t think it was worth losing his stinger. Eventually he slumped his back against the side in acceptance that he’d just have to wait. He let his eyelids slide down, leaving him once more in the dark. He supposed he’d wait. It couldn’t take too long to clear out a rose bush. So he waited. 

And waited. 

And suddenly he was hit with a realization. She noticed him. It probably was just because of his maniac protest but that was still the first time she’s ever looked straight at him, not just a sideway glance when her eyes glazed over the perimeter of the garden. 

This made that warm cheery feeling swell inside of him again, and he smiled. With happy, droopy lids, he breathed in to sigh admiringly, and caught a whiff of honey. This used to be a honey jar. The irony. His eyebrows quirked up in light amusement. 

Down the musty darkness, on the shelf right below him, there was a flash of white light. He saw it through the slits of his eyelids just hardly open and jumped to the wall of the glass. Peering down he saw faint wisps of purple smoke slowly curling up through the air. They dispersed quickly and melted into the air. As he continued watching, there was another, brighter flash, this time followed by a bang that shook the shelves. The glass jar shook unsteadily, and Sollux’s weight leaning against the wall toppled it over the edge of the shelf. 

He was on the ground before he completely realized what was happening. The glass smashed and shattered around his body. He had tumbled around the jar and, although it served some protection, his entire being ached with bruised and bloody skin. But he was alive. 

Trying to get up was a chore. His limbs felt heavy. His breathing was hitched and one eye didn’t want to open. But he managed it slowly, leaning forward, getting on his knees, and then finding a shaky balance on his feet. Everything around him looked hazy and disoriented. 

He groaned with the effort of trying to get his wings to move. He got off his feet, but was frighteningly unbalanced. A wing corner was bent in and made his whole body swerve through the air. Piling that on top of the fact he could hardly see, and he was just blundering around in the dark. 

The higher he got, the more drained he felt. All of his weight and lethargy moved to the tips of each one of his limbs. His body still needed to rest and restore itself. His consciousness was slowly slipping from his mind in smoky wisps. His eyelids drooped along with his head, hanging from his neck like a rag doll. He drove on, clumsily and half asleep until he felt himself falling. 

He hit water. Deep water. His limbs twitched in their futile efforts but he was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Sollux woke up to the scraping noise of a sliding metal door and the afternoon sunlight. 

Before he opened his eyes he heard a gasp from the doorway. A dainty shaped silhouette stood before him, arms crossed and feet pointed out. It was Aradia, but suddenly she looked so much smaller than she ever did. Everything around him did. 

“Who are you?” She was even pretty when she was shocked with red parted lips and wide doe eyes. 

Sollux sat there with his mouth agape. She was staring right into his eyes, fully acknowledging him, even talking to him. 

“I’m…” He looked down at himself. He took up a considerably larger amount of space in this shed then he ever did before. “I’m human.” 

“Well of course you are.” She looked at him for a long time, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn’t move any closer to him, but she uncrossed her arms and loosened up slightly. Her brown eyes were suddenly warmer, and more sympathetic. “Do you know how you got here?” 

“Ye- well, not really… kind of.” Yes Aradia I’m the bee you put in a jar in here earlier but now I’m a human and by the way I’m in love with you. 

She kept on looking at him as if he were a lost, little boy to pity. Sollux turned his head away and shifted his body, uncomfortable under her gaze. 

“Do you have a home?” she asked, finally taking a few steps and bending down to look at him. 

“Uh… well no…” he said, barely able to meet her gaze. 

Her eyebrows furrowed again as her eyes wandered away to a place to think. She tugged on her lip with her teeth as Sollux had seen her do a hundred times when she was trying to make a decision. She was wary of how trustworthy this stranger was, but still wanted to help. 

She looked back at him, perking up. “I can give you some money and drive you to a hotel.” 

“Uhh…” What the hell is a hotel. 

“Would you like that?” She looked at him with thoughtful, waiting eyes and a tight, worried smile. This must have been a generous, helpful thing for a human to do. So, to not disappoint her, he accepted with a thankful and slightly confused nod. 

He could see Aradia visibly light up with joy. Her smile widened as she held out her hand, and with only a moment of hesitation to recall this human custom, Sollux grabbed it and let her help him up. 

“Oh, you were in a pile of glass.” She said as she looked down in consideration at the broken glass and the bee she must presume is dead. However, she knew the man in her care was obviously of higher priority, and was more worried about him. “Are you alright? Did it cut you?” 

Sollux ran his hands across his backside and thighs. “No, I’m fine.” 

“Alright. Do you mind if I finish my chores though? I can’t afford to waste any time or money on gas. I’m sorry. You can stay in here, is that ok?” 

Her incessant babying was starting to become annoying, but that was drowned out by his wonder and happiness. He was talking to Aradia for the first time. His first two-sided conversation with the walking, talking rose that never stopped blooming. 

“Yeah I’ll be fine.” he said, offering her a smile. 

“Ok, I gotta shut you in though. This isn’t my house, and I can’t let my manager see you.” She said, gripping the handle of the shed. 

“That’s alright.” 

She looked sheepish. “Again, I’m really sorry, I just don’t have the money to drive back and forth, and the hotel’s between here and my house.” 

Sollux then became aware of the concept of money; something to take and give. An exchange for things in return, like he does with pollen and honey. A small, sick feeling crept into his gut. He couldn’t take her money. She needed that. 

But now that he’d already accepted her offer, it’d be rude to change his mind. He sat there in his guilt until Aradia came back, less than ten minutes later. 

She was slightly winded but still energetic and perky. She thrust open the shed and took a moment to lean over and relax before she looked back up at him. “Okay I’m ready. C’mon.” 

Sollux followed her out to her little metal mover. He climbed into a small, cramped, yet somehow comfortable seat beside her and suddenly realized how tall and thin he was compared to the short, stout woman. 

As she started to drive, Sollux took a sharp intake of breath. His eyes flew wide open at the sudden jerking movement. She seemed fine though, so he tried to regain his composure, but he was freaking out. It was like flying without leaving the ground. They were gliding against the land with almost no effort of their own. 

After a while, she pulled up to the side of the road and stopped the car. Looking at the large building he saw people rushing, in and out, with bags and children. This must be a temporary hive for humans. 

He thanked her and got out of the car. Right before he was about to shut the door, she opened her mouth and slightly raised her hand, as if she were going to reach out and ask him one last thing. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

She hesitated for a moment before smiling again. “Nothing. Good luck.” 

He returned her smile. “Thanks”

He set off, sad that he was walking away from her, but confident in the promise of a new life. A life closer to her.

**Author's Note:**

> no hes not dead, his body just needed to rest to heal.


End file.
